morning snow is quickly moving out of our area, but right now it's still coming down out there and has now covered the ground in some places. storm team 4 says you can expect more of the winter weather tomorrow morning, too. the timing of that know is coming up. and parents out in force demanding school budgets stay intact. and a hotline to help victims of a big security breach. good morning, everyone. welcome to news 4 midday. i'm barbara harrison. it's tuesday, february 25th,

2014. we begin with more winter weather. if you've looked out your window, you've seen it. the flakes started to fly at 8:00 this morning and now are moving out of the area in some places. chuck bell is in for tom kierein and joins us for his first forecast for this midday tuesday. good morning, chuck. >> good morning, barbara. beautiful pictures across the area with light snow continuing to come down. storm team 4 radar tracking the flakes as they go right through the heart of the capital beltway, right over the capital city. moderate snow at times. not an awful lot sticking on the roads. quite a few locations with half an inch to an inch on the grassiest surfaces and exposed locations. still watching the the snow pile up a touch. heavier snow moving into parts of charles county. there's the back end of the snow now. it's already stopped in hagerstown. martins burg. this back end will continue to slide on through here for the remainder of the late morning into the early afternoon. temperatures, it's cold outside.

upper 20s and low 30s with windchills back down into the low 20s. it's a bundle-up afternoon to go outside. here is your afternoon planner. light snow now, 30 degrees. 34 at noon. 37 by 3:00. 35 by 6:00 with the snow ending some time between noon and 3:00, depending how far south you live. another chance for snow tomorrow morning and a cold weekend ahead, when i see you in a few minutes. >> all right. chuck, come on in here right now. >> okay. you can find out if your personal information was stolen in the data breach at the university of maryland if you get through the hotline that's up right now. megan mcgrath is live in college park to explain the latest problem. good morning. >> reporter: they're having real problems with that hotline. you were supposed to be able to call in at 9:00 this morning and find out if your data was the datacompromised in the breach. you've also been able to sign up to get free credit monitoring.

all we've been getting is an all circuits busy recording. >> we're sorry. all circuits are busy now. >> reporter: 9:30 am, four calls to the credit monitoring hotline and we got nothing but an alert saying all circuits busy. >> we're sorry. all circuits are busy now. >> reporter: what do you think of that? >> i think that's ridiculous. like there's 350,000 people affected by this and if the line is going to be busy all morning, then that's not really a defense at all against it. >> reporter: the recent data breach at the university of maryland put 300,000 students, faculty and staff members at risk. anyone with a university i.d. dating back to 1998. the university is providing one year of free credit monitoring through experion. the hotline to register opened at 9:00 am this morning. many are interested. are you going to sign up? >> definitely. >> reporter: it remains to be seen just how hard it will be to

actually register. >> we're sorry. all circuits are busy now. >> reporter: the hackers stole social security numbers, birth dates and university inc.d.s. many are worried about their personal accounts. >> that's big. that's personal information like your social security number. >> i don't have much money right now so it's not that big a deal to me. i know my brother, who just bought a house, is really worried about it. and i actually know a couple of people who had me send the e-mail along to them. >> reporter: once they are able to sign up, people will get a copy of their experian credit report. they'll also receive surveillance alerts if there's any suspicious activity connected with their accounts and fraud resolution experts in case bad charges have already been made. and just a short time ago, i did speak to a university spokesperson. they say that they are aware of the problem and are keeping tabs on it. they've been in contact with experian. the credit monitoring company. they're aware of the problem and

are trying to figure it out. they're saying they have technical difficulties at this point. experian has said they're making this their number one priority and that they have a lot of personnel trying to figure out exactly what's going on. the university spokesperson said that folks should really hold off for a little while until they can figure out the hotline and exactly what's going on and maybe call back later on this afternoon. if you want that hotline number, you can go to our website, nbcwashington.com. we've got it listed there. they're having some real difficulties this morning. reporting live in college park, megan mcgrath, news 4. >> thank you, megan. the snow is coming down out there. former montgomery county teacher is in court right now. two hours ago, walter bowman's trial began, charged with second-degree assault. formerly a science teacher. three of his female co-workers at the middle school filed complaints against him last year. also today, closing arguments are expected in the

trial of a former sunday school teacher charged in a deadly road rage case. testified it was righteous indignation that led to him to follow william o'brien. the former sunday school teacher said he followed o'brien, because he had been honking at him. surveillance video shows the two fighting last april. o'brien threw the first punch, he says. and o'brien died three days later. a mother was killed almost 24 hours ago now. she was reaching into her minivan in front of knottingham elementary school when a dump truck hit her vehicle and she was killed. news 4 spoke to some drivers who said little falls road can be difficult to drive because it's so narrow and cars park on both

sides of it. drivers want to know what will be done to make the roadway safer. >> definitely speed bumps or something to help people slow down because, yeah, you never know what can happen here. i've seen it at the busy times at the end of school. there's a lot of people walking back and forth. there needs to be something to slow people down a little bit. >> the dump truck driver stayed on the scene and is cooperating with police. police are looking into whether or not speed was a factor. and we can learn today if d.c. voters will decide if it's legal to have small amounts of marijuana in the district. board of election sincere reviewing an initiative marijuana supporters want to put on november's ballot. d.c.'s attorney general says their proposal would break a federal law that would ban the district from offering public housing to anyone charged with marijuana offenses. and right now, fairfax county board of supervisor sincere going over the proposed 2015 budget. some parents are holding a rally at that meeting, demanding a

higher quality of education. melissa mollet is at government center with more on their concerns. >> reporter: county executives proposed budget is being released as we speak. earlier this morning, parents and teachers were inside the lobby at the county government center, many dressed in blue for a fund our schools rally, holding signs, speaking out, asking the county executive to fully fund the school board's 2015 budget request. the budget about $2.5 billion. superintendent dr. karen garza was also on hand for the rally. this is a tough year, of course, for spcs when they're facing a deficit. librarians, psychologists and social workers from schools, they get about 70% of its budget dollars from the county. >> last five, six-year period of time because of the recession, we realize it's been tight. we've had to institute a lot of

cuts and reductions. now it's to the point where we are hoaffecting the quality of e education we are offering. we can't let that happen anymore. >> reporter: in fairfax county, virginia, melissa mollet, news 4. right now in federal court in michigan, a same-sex couple is fighting for the right to marry and adopt children. coming up, the scene at the courthouse this morning that had both sides of the debate in view. plus, what president obama is saying about a possible pay raise for federal workers. and take a look outside right now. snow has covered the grassy areas. coming up, when we

i'm aaron gilchrist at the

live 4 news desk. we're keeping an eye on a court case in michigan, a lesbian couple challenging the state law passed in 2004 and another as it relates to adopting children. the couple did speak to the media right before they went into the courthouse for this hearing. take a listen to what they say. >> we want to be recognized like everybody else. nothing says family like the marriage license that says that we are legally a family. that's what we're hoping for. and we think we're going to get. >> and originally they sued the state because of their law on adopting children and adopting each other's children in this case and added on their challenge to the gay marriage ban. as you can see, there were peaceful protests and counter protests happening outside the courthouse this morning. the federal judge is hearing the case and could make a decision whether the gay marriage ban in michigan will stand. that's the latest from the live desk. back to you. >> thank you, aaron.

a judge's decision to declare virginia's ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional will face an appeal. earlier this month a federal judge ruled the federal ban violates the fourth amendment. lieutenant attorney general announced when he took office in january he would not defend that ban. all-out manhunt is under way for the ousted president of the ukraine. take a look at this. surveillance video shows former president yanukovych boarding a helicopter in kiev friday. police hope to find him soon and arrest him on mass murder charges. ukrainian leaders say he's to blame for the nearly 80 protesters that were killed last thursd thursday. parliament appointed its speaker to serve as the new interim president. parliament members will vote on a new government thursday. elections for a new president are set for may 25th.

defense secretary chuck hagel will explain some of the drastic cuts he has included in his latest defense budget, meeting with military commanders in the norfolk area. his proposed budget would shrink the army to its smallest size since world war ii. he also wants to close some military bases starting in 2017 and reduce raises that the military receives. >> we made choices based on strategic priorities, clear facts, unbiased analysis and fiscal responsibilities and with a bottom line focus on how best to defend the united states. >> the pentagon says there could be even more drastic cuts on the horizon if congress renews the sequester in 2016. federal workers may get another raise. president obama wants to give them a 1% raise for 2015. government workers have gone three straight years without a raise before getting a 1% increase this year. in about 15 minutes,

president obama and house speaker john boehner will meet. for more on that meeting, we're joined by martin murray. this is the first time they've sat down for a while, isn't it? >> in a while, since a lot of the big budget battles we've seen in the last six months to a year. speaker boehner's office he ends up telling us that this is a meeting that the white house actually requested and they're talking on a whole range of issues. i can bet on the agenda they'll talk about immigration reform, something that the house of representatives still hasn't voted on. john boehner and republicans want the president to move forward on trade. i wouldn't be surprised if that is the topic that the president brings up. >> what about minimum wage? >> that's what the white house wants but john boehner and the house republicans aren't too keen on that. >> hits the campaign trail today. who is he campaigning for and how does he manage to stay so

popular in the public eye? >> part of that is that post-election, post-presidency halo. some 20 odd years or a little less than that, people see you in a much better light. not through the same partisan lens. bill clinton is stumping for allison good morning rimes, democratic candidate in kentucky running against mitch mcconnell, a primary challenger from the tea party. he has to do that first in may. this could be one of the more marquis senate races of 2014. that's why bill clinton is there today. >> rand paul has been a vocal critic lately against clinton. >> right. and so we're not only seeing bill clinton on the campaign trail but all of a sudden the next indication that hillary clinton may be running for presidency in 2016, rand paul, another person who might be running for president on the republican side, reviving a lot of the monica lewinsky attacks

saying bill clinton doesn't represent kentucky values, kentucky families. this seems to be a tactic republicans are going after. we'll see if that somehow sticks if hillary clinton runs. >> do you think the republican candidates for the presidency see themselves running against hillary and bill together? >> if you're a republican and you want to get the base behind you, throwing some very good red meat, anti-clinton, whether it's directed at bill or hillary clinton is very good for your base. >> thanks so much. for more from mark and the rest of the nbc news political team, check out first read on nbc news.com. and chuck joins us now with a look at that forecast. let's look behind us. it's still coming down. >> yeah. >> it's really snowing out there. >> it's overperforming again. even once again just because it's overperforming doesn't mean we're going to get a foot of snow. instead a dusting to half an inch, now we're closing in on half an inch to an inch, still not sticking to any of the major

roads. commuting issues won't be a problem but it sure is pretty outside. radar zoomed in to the heart of the d.c. metro area. the snow is still light to moderate at times. light snow in northwest washington. moderate snow into fairfax county, moderate snow there, down into southeast washington, out towards capitol heights. the back senlg starting to show up. northern frederick county, hagerstown. still snowing pretty steadily now toward woodbridge, dale city, all getting the snow right now. even our friends and neighbors in southern maryland, pushing in your direction. southern maryland will be the last place to see the end of the snow. and, as a result, you're half an inch to an inch yet still to come. timing on the back edge of the snow should be done in leesburg today.

fairfax, 1:00. about 2:30 or 3:00 before the last of the snowflakes start to move out in parts of southern maryland. reston town center, look at that. snow very, very light in reston fairfax, loudoun county. @chuckbell4 on twitter. trying to grab some snowflakes today. he looks like he's having a great time. melinda hendricks, just enough snow to whiten the ground out there. didn't report any troubles on the roads and allison frank in v virginia, look at that. enough snow to write a shoutout to her favorite meteorologist and i'm shouting it back right out to her. @vjohnsonnbc 4. @tomkierein. as many snow pictures as you can send on n for now, though, light snow still falling. 30 grease here in washington. 29 hagerstown.

36 degrees down in fredericksburg. dry for the pm rush. another snow chance coming their way tomorrow and a chilly week ahead. last of the snowflakes come on through. between 4:00 and 10:00 am tomorrow, could be less than an inch around town. some places might be able to do an inch or two. it will not be a big, impactful storm. that is welcomed news. roads should be fairly passable tomorrow morning. one or two lonesome delays. from the national weather service, until 2:00. that came in here the last 30 seconds. >> it's very photogenic. >> you don't want to be out in it? >> i have a feeling i'll be out in it in ten minute. >> i have a feeling you will. weather is one reason you'll pay more at the grocery store this year.

don't expect that increase to be on just one or two products. coming up, the long list of items that will cost you more. and the popular pill now linked to adhd in children. first a look at what's hot on nbcwashington.com.

storm 4mea is tracking winter weather. you can see from our camera outside our studios, it's still snowing here in the district. we're under a winter weather advisory until 2:00 this afternoon. me on today's snow and what we can expect tomorrow in a few minutes. and happening in about 45 minutes, consumer reports will unveil its top vehicle picks for 2014. the vehicles are measured on reliability, safety and a road test. all cars fall into one of ten

categories from green cars to minivans. last year some of the winners were the toyota highlander and the audi a-6. today first lady michelle obama wants to make sure your child's school is always out lining health, getting rid of junk food and sugary drinks. the new rules would only allow for promotions for healthy drink and food on school campuses. scoreboards, gyms, advertising boards would all fall under the same rules. we'll look at how fairfax county schools will be impacted by the new budget proposal. plus we are waiting to hear from governor jan brewer whether she will sign or veto a bill that would allow business owners to refuse service to gays. more snow in tomorrow's

forecast. meteorologist chuck bell i

we have some pictures just in to our newsroom. there they are. that is snow falling and looking pretty heavy, too, out there in springfield, virginia. we've got a winter weather advisory until 2:00 this afternoon. this snow and more snow that is apparently on the way. chuck bell will join us in a few minutes to talk about what we can expect. stay with us for that. meanwhile right now fairfax county leaders are outlining the proposed 2015 budget. melissa mollet justte outside that meeting and is live in fairfax with more for us now. >> reporter: under way for about 30 minutes now. we want to share with you what we have heard so far. the 2015-2016 budget plans for fairfax county executive, edward

long say iing he's more optimisc this year than he has been in years past. $6.955 million. a 2% increase for schools which is less than what was hoped for. long says the economy is growing but property values are still lower than they were in 2008 and 2009, which is cutting into tax revenue. >> we've had a very busy introduction here. i'm more optimistic about the prospect of the county budget than i was this time last year. much of that optimism to make difficult decisions discussed last year. real estate tax rate investing in organization. >> reporter: county executive

will be holding an online budget chat this friday. lots of public hearings, townhall meetings. this plan won't go into effect until swrul 1. melissa mollet, news 4. back to you. >> thanks, melissa. pressuring arizona's governor to veto a bill that would allow business owners to refuse service to gay people. ceos from american airlines and apple are asking the governor to veto this bill. governor brewer has until friday to sign or veto the bill. a group of small business owners in phoenix are sending the governor their own message by posting signs saying they are open to everyone. >> i'm glad to know which businesses in phoenix and the broader community actually oppose this bill. that would help me to know who to shop with actually. >> the super bowl is supposed to be in arizona next year and the super bowl committee is also asking for a veto. new today, we are now knowing -- we know who ron

george has picked as his running mate for his bid of the maryland governor's position. he has chosen former frederick a alderman shelley aloi. that race is still wide open, though. half of republican and republican-leaning voters in maryland are still undecided in a recent washington post poll. maryland's senate is looking at two bills today that would decriminalize marijuana. the first would make it a civil offense to possess small amounts of drug. you would be fined up to $100 if cops busted you with as much as ten grams of pot but you wouldn't face criminal charges. the other bill would make it legal for adults to possess an ounce of marijuana, also cultivate six plants. that bill is less likely to become law. governor martin o'malley opposes that one. most police in maryland oppose both of those bills, maryland chiefs of police is speaking out

in annapolis. meanwhile, police in woodbridge are looking over this surveillance video in hopes of identifying the three men in it. they're suspected of shooting 21-year-old to death on friday night. police say they ran into the grocery store. it's a grocery and jewelry store, actually. she was working at that store. police say that they shot her and killed her. another employee at the store was injured in the shooting. the men didn't take any money from the store. new this morning, out of prince george's county, fire investigators are in the process of determining what caused a fire at a home in capital heights near heath street and drum avenue. crews were called to the scene around 4:30 this morning. when they arrived they found flames pouring out of the home and four people safely outside. firefighters believe it started in the basement. no one, they say, was hurt.

as more snow moves into our area, some schools are still trying to make up days for the last storm we had. elementary and middle school student students in spotsylvania will be going to school on days that were scheduled off to make up for those snow days. the time something behaving itself. the amount has fluffed up to a little more than we thought. the official pat collins snow stick measurement out here on storm team 4 weather deck. this one here is 1.3" of snow. 1.3 here on the storm team 4 weather deck now. still coming down light. any additional accumulations from here should be less than another half to a quarter inch at most. city camera view and here is the

advisory now. fresh new advisory put up at 11:15 this morning until 2:00 this afternoon. winter weather advisory includes all the immediate d.c. metropolitan area. loudoun, fairfax, prince william, faulkier. as well as montgomery, howard, prince george's, calvert and charles counties in the great state of maryland, including arlington county, the district and alexandria. indeed, the snow continues to come on down. there it is on radar. prince george's county moving into northern charles county. waldorf, laplata. that's where the heaviest snow is now, also across parts of northern virginia, toward quantico. making steady progress eastbound. the last of the snowflakes should be out between 2:00 and 3:00 this afternoon. that's the way it looks out at the reston town center. only in the upper 20s. another chance of snow come iin

tomorrow morning. it will be light snow. the timing of it, it will be before the morning rush instead of after. there may be a delay or two possible tomorrow. we'll be keeping you posted on that. i'll see you in a few more minutes back inside the warm, dry studio. >> chuck, with these temperatures below freezing, is that snow going to stay with us then? >> no. honestly it's not sticking to the driveway and traffic cameras i've been looking at, every road is still completely snow free. that is welcomed news. >> thank you, chuck. sticker shock is showing up all over the grocery stores these days. drought out west is starting to affect us here on the east coast. as tom costello reports there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. >> reporter: grocery shopping for jasmine forte's family of five isn't cheap, averaging $200 a week, she cuts coupons and bounces between store. >> meat was on sale today, which is why i bought it. >> reporter: likely to only get more expensive for her and families across the country. the california drought is one very big reason as farmers and

ranchers lose their harvest and sell off their livestock. >> it means you'll be paying probably more for that steak when you go to the supermarket, more for that hamburger when you go to the drive-in. >> it's having an effect on the price you pay. ground beef has surged from $3.38 a pound in october to $3.46 in january and could hit $4 a pound this year. milk prices also up, 13 cent ace gallon since september and expected to keep rising. demand for cheese is exploding overseas. oats, the main ingredient in cereals is up 20% this year, all of it forcing jasmine forte into some grocery aisle strategizing. >> i make my list, go with an agenda. i know what i'm going to get. once i arrive at the market when i see these jumps then i have to rethink my list. >> reporter: economists say 2014 could be a year of higher food prices across the board, including fruit, vegetables, poultry and pork. >> the typical american is going

to see a $5 to $10 increase in their grocery bill when they check out. everything in that basket is going to come at a higher price. >> reporter: adding insult to injury, a drought in brazil is sending coffee prices soaring, up 35% since november. for many, that's just too much. >> there will be coffee in this house at all times. there's no way i could cut the coffee. >> reporter: balancing the family budget and personal priorities. tom costello, nbc news, washington. in less than an hour, maryland's comptroller, the bill would prevent people with outstanding warrants from receiving a state income tax return. pilot version of the program is producing results in anne arundel county. 325 warrants have been closed through this program. maryland state police are working to find four people behind a sophisticated scheme that ripped off a local casino.

only news 4 dug up these court documents saying the group used fake poker chips at the maryland live casino on several occasions. authorities called in to investigate in january. police say the chips were painted and cut to look like the black $100 chips they have at the casino. the casino didn't even notice the chips were phony until after the players had made off with thousands of dollars. plans to build bike lanes in northern virginia causing a battle in one community. the proposal calls for the removal of street parking along king street along west cedar and highland place. they shared concerns before the alexandria traffic and parking board. crews would need to narrow traffic lanes by one-foot in order to add the bike lanes. they're concerned emergency crews will have trouble getting through the area. >> if the vehicle is 10 1/2-feet wide and the lane is 10 1/2-feet wide it's an accident waiting to

happen. >> it's the best that we can get, honestly. it's a bike lane. i'll take it. >> alexandria city council will consider the plans next month. right now, d.c. leaders are looking for your input in a plan to bring football and other major sporting events to the district. news 4's aaron gilchrist is here with how you can take part. >> the d.c. council has big plans to try to get the redskins to move back to the city. today, they want your input. six council members unveiled the plan in november to try to convince the redskins to move from fedex field back to rfk stadium in southwest d.c. council wants to create an entire sports entertainment center complex that would repurpose the d.c. armory and the langston golf course. rfk would become a 100,000 seat domed stadium. the armory would be transformed into a sound stage and film center and a hotel complex and water park, indoor water park

would be built to draw in even more visitors. council members hope it would not only convince the redskins to return but lead to the city hosting super bowls, golf tournaments, film crews, maybe even the olympics. you can comment on this plan today at a public hearing. it started just a little while ago at the wilson building. you can find more details on our website. 11:42 is the time right now. mystery illness. dozens of children sick with symptoms similar to polio. what doctors think is happening. moldy.

it's found in many over-the-counter drugs like tylenol. the study does not prove a cause and effect relationship and more study, they say, is need ed. malasma is a common skin disorder that effects an average 6 million people in the united states, often associate d with sun exposure but is also common in pregnant women. dr. cheryl burgess joins us with more on the causes and the treatment. what is malasma? >> it's an unwanted deposition of pigment, particularly on the face. we see it in the cheek area, sometimes on the forehead. but over the lip, it can sometimes disguise itself like a mustache. when you look closely, it's pigment. >> in pregnant women it's often called the mask of pregnancy. is it hormonal or hormonal related? >> they think it is a basis of hormonal estimation. however in the middle east and some northern african countries and middle eastern countries we

twitter feed as well. >> you're going to show us? >> absolutely. why wouldn't i show you the pictures? goes until 2:00 this afternoon. luckily not much of this, if any, is sticking on the roads. moving into parts of southern maryland. the snow will be tapering off here in the next little while. most of the snowflakes will be back. beautiful scene in her neighborhood this morning. notice the road is clear. though the grass and tree branches are covered there in bristow. terry lee, another picture of yards and roofs and branches all covered and the street, not a flake sticking to the road. that is welcomed news. sherry danielson, springfield, virginia, almost three inches of fluffy snow there in spri springfield. overperforming once again, mother nature showing us up again here. if we get the snow stopped by 2:00, we'll make it into the upper 30s today. another chance of snow coming our way tomorrow morning. could be another inch to two inches in some places and now that mother nature has er